Listen to Robert Emmerich introduce "The Big Apple," a hit song from 1937. Music written by Bob and performed by Tommy Dorsey's Clambake Seven with Bob on piano. Lyrics written by Buddy Bernier and sung by Edythe Wright. Audio provided by Dorothy Emmerich.

Answers.comIdioms: you get what you pay for
Inexpensive goods or services are likely to be inferior, as in That vacuum cleaner fell apart in a year—I guess you get what you pay for, or The volunteers take three times as long with the mailing, but you get what you pay for. This economic observation probably dates from ancient times but is disputed by those who do not equate high price with high quality.

The Free DictionaryYou get what you pay for.
Prov. Cliché If you do not pay much money for something, it is probably of poor quality.; If you pay well for something, it is more likely to be of good quality.
Alan: I was so pleased to find shoes for such a low price, but look, they’re falling apart already. Jane: You get what you pay for. This brand of soup is more expensive, but remember, you get what you pay for.

27 June 1943, Chicago (IL) Daily Tribune, “Investors’ Guide,” pt. 2, pg. A6:
A time proved maxim warns the bargain hunter that you get what you pay for and no more. There’s another maxim that the exception proves the rule, so it must be admitted that occasionally one will find a true bargain, but the first principle still holds.

19 December 1946, Hartford (CT) Courant, “Loomis Endowment,” pg. 12:
And not even in education can the old adage, “you get what you pay for,” be adjudged out of place.

OCLC WorldCat recordIn communications skills, you get what you pay for.
Author: G Davis
Edition/Format: Article : English
Publication: Modern hospital, 1969 Jul; 113(1): 48
Database: From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine